An Intelligent Optical Network (ION) is capable of mining potentialities in bandwidth of the optical network sufficiently, producing various new services in an optical domain and satisfying diversify and personalized requirements from users, so its development has much attention. The ION is mostly composed of a series of system apparatuses with high flexibility. Wavelength Selective Switches (WSSs) are one of important component modules in the ION, with which adding, dropping and direct-passing of optical signals of various wavelengths may be realized.
The existing wavelength selective switch is generally a 1×N wavelength selective switch comprising an incidence unit having one incidence port, and an exit unit having N exit ports. In the wavelength selective switch having a plurality of ports, which is made with a Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS), different wavelengths from different input ports can not be implemented to be output from a same output port, and the bandwidths of the optical signals of the different wavelengths are fixed and not adjustable.
With the development of the ION to a net system with higher dimensions, the existing wavelength selective switch leads to a great increasing in the number of the wavelength selective switches in the ION due to its limit number of the ports, and a management of the network is more complex and also a cost for power consumption increases accordingly. Therefore, it is desired to increase the numbers of the incidence ports and the exit ports in the wavelength selective switch and realize a flexible switching among the respective wavelengths.